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Jean Baptiste Richardier in Iraq |
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Iraq: despair of the civilian victims
Three days after the end of bombing in Iraq, bullets are still flying when we get nearer to the Medical City, the biggest hospital in Baghdad. At long last, two American armoured cars are guarding it. In a plaintive wail of sirens, three ambulances pick their way to the A&E where they empty the misery of the morning’s skirmishes.
A body riddled with shrapnel is the sign of explosions of sub-munitions, which certain town quarters are infested with. The immense first-aid room is the theatre of indescribable disorder. More than sixty patients, mostly seriously wounded, hope to be attended by the overstretched doctors who must face the anxiety and sometimes the vehemence of families.
We go to the different floors and visit one by one the mixed wards. Pain and prostrations are everywhere. Never would I have thought that this “surgical” war had caused so many wounded among the civilians of Baghdad! Bed after bed, we discover the suffering of this war, in the name of liberty… Electricity and water will only be reconnected in several days, and post-operative infections are multiplying. Oxygen is lacking. A trivial wound, from a lost bullet, is infected and gangrene has forced the surgeon to amputate this young girl of 15. It was last night. She is slowly realising…She is in tears. This other child of 12 is unconscious, her head lost in a bloody bandage. On the x-ray a bullet is clearly visible. Her grandfather tells me that he will die if she does not recover from the operation… |
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To get back the zest for life, hundreds and hundreds of wounded, no doubt several thousands when the final toll is released, must be able to count on an immediate assistance to favour their best possible recovery. Very competent surgeons saved them, but Iraqi medicine does not practise the care of post-traumatic rehabilitation of patients in bed. The treatment that diminishes pain, improves circulation, fights against muscle weakness, prevents ankylosis of movement and stimulates the healing of the wounds, but above all the contact and dialogue that they give are an irreplaceable cure for the despair of the war wounded and for the family circle who learns willingly the exercises that give relief and calm.
During the long trip, which brings me back to Amman, it is impossible to wipe out the pictures of the wounded families I met. Seeing the pain on their faces again, the seriousness of their wounds, I cannot help thinking of the affirmation of Colin Powell: the coalition forces will decide alone the reconstruction of Iraq, because they have paid the price of the spilled blood… I tell myself that the least we can do is to implement everything to meet the rights of the Iraqi wounded and their families, and that help gets to them generously.
Jean-Baptiste Richardier
Director of Handicap International France |
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